Diary of a Porsche Owner appears to have beaten me to the idea of a blog about a year of Porsche 996 ownership (in his case, 2001 Carrera2). Hats off to him, who sold his in 2014.
Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear of another owner doing something similar. I've now moved on to a 1980s retro classic, a VW Golf MK2 GTI 16V. Totally different to the Porsche but a huge amount of fine and surprisingly quick especially round corners! Another car, another blog ... http://vw-golf-mk2-gti.blogspot.co.uk/
One major reason that I chose this particular S550 was its having the Burmester High End 3D Surrounded Sound System. That option added $6,400 to the sticker price when this car was new in 2015. I've always been curious what the very best modern OEM car audio systems sound like, and this system has a decent claim to being among that number. (Mercedes has further upgraded this system in the latest S class model years, adding in-seat "exciters" and naturally calling it the Burmester High End 4D Surround Sound System . I am not joking.) What does that $6,400 get you? Well, you go from 13 speakers to 24, jump from 590 watts of combined amplifier power to 1540 watts, and gain a trunk-mounted subwoofer. Presumably, you also get a bunch of bespoke digital signal processing (DSP). The most obvious visible give-away of the upgraded High-End option is the extra tweeters mounted in the front doors. For extra bling factor, these tweeters rotate out of their housings ...
I think analog dashboard clocks are a wonderful automotive anachronism, one that I've enjoyed in my dad's 1972 BMW 2002tii and my 1965 Corvette . Naturally, the Mercedes S Class sedans have long featured an analog clock in the dash. Well, at least until the latest model year 2021-and-onward W223 S Class, I'm afraid. Thankfully, my W222-generation car still has one. Of course, Mercedes being Mercedes, this isn't a simple analog clock that you set manually. Oh no. It's integrated with the overall COMAND infotainment system, so when you change the time (or set it to fetch time automatically from GPS satellites!), that setting will also set the analog clock. Spooky, no?
In 2019, I turned the voyage to and from Coachella into a multi-day roadtrip , which led to discovering lots of beautiful central California roads. I decided to do it again for 2023, racking up another ~1,100 miles in beautiful "superbloom" weather. My faithful steed, a 2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata, did not disappoint. Day One: SF to Santa Maria San Francisco to Santa Maria via 309 miles of California back roads, including some of my very favorites (Carmel Valley to Paso Robles). Beautiful weather, if a bit windy and chilly. But wow, there are a lot of pot holes, thanks to the recent rains. As in 2019, I started by taking Highway 1 down to Half Moon Bay, then up to Skyline Drive, and down from the mountains to Felton via Highway 9, still one of my favorite twisty Miata roads, even if there was a bit more traffic this year. Then back on a relatively boring stretch of Highway 1 to Castroville. From there I drove into Salinas and then over the Laureles Grade (which I did in 201...
Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear of another owner doing something similar. I've now moved on to a 1980s retro classic, a VW Golf MK2 GTI 16V. Totally different to the Porsche but a huge amount of fine and surprisingly quick especially round corners! Another car, another blog ... http://vw-golf-mk2-gti.blogspot.co.uk/
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